Oh my goodness, I totally forgot about using masking tape but I know I did it too!
I’m glad the duck boot conversation started because I had momentarily forgotten about living in them in the barn… and destroying all my socks because either the mud would come up over the laces or I’d blow out holes in the rubber footbed within like a month of buying a new pair. And my feet being so cold!!!
For practical purposes, you have about a minute in between the first round and the jump off to review the jump off course before you have to get over the first jump.
The judge usually does not sound the buzzer immediately after you finish the first round, and then once you hear the buzzer you have 45 seconds from that point to get over the starting line before the clock starts.
Not for 2c, though, right? 2c terrifies me most. Not that 1 minute would really help me!
No, not for 2c. But those courses are usually shorter. Less to memorize!
Girl, come watch my lessons! (I think you’re nearby me…) I repeat my 4-8 fences like 8 times and STILL sometimes the trainer is screaming at me that I am going off course. “Turn LEFT!” “Where are you going?” “You’re OFF COURSE!”
ETA: and my favorite: “you missed one!” Or “you’re not done!”
You keep going for II.2d as well, which is fairly popular out here. Original course plus jump off usually shorter than II.2b, though longer than II.1 (or whatever the number is for time first round).
And replying to myself… last week there was a trial going on and a million people in the indoor, so I was distracted. We were taking turns - the buyer on the sales horse and me. It was stressful because when they were done, I had to pick up a canter and just go. My trainer said “okay, just do the last course” and I proceeded to say “okay, so, bumble bee bending to the out of the line…” and she said “you just did it! Go!” And I screamed “I’m 43!!!” then got so frazzled, I biffed a fence, got left behind, lost a stirrup, and had to jump out the line without it. Lol. I need my time to remember my course and visualize!
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a 2d class on the East Coast.
That makes me feel marginally better. Lol.
Some shows also offer a clear round class with no jump off.
All the throw back riding clothing references made me remember:
Did anybody else wear those “heels down” sneakers? Or better yet, the Millers riding jeans covered in the brown vinyl “chaps”? I’d go a flyin’ wearing any of that today!
Trust me, it doesn’t get any better when you switch disciplines, especially as you get older.
My young Paint is an all-around type, and I wanted to focus on trail classes. To do well, your horse has to master lateral movements, a steady rhythm and precise transitions. I liked those goals. But let me tell you, the first few times I competed at a big Paint show in trail I was… 
Huge, covered arena, with a bazillion striped ground poles laid out in all sorts of numerous, jigsaw puzzle configurations. I mean, poles for miles! Endless opportunities to get lost, go off course, or jog over poles you were supposed to take at a lope.
Ultimately, the only thing that probably kept me from having a meltdown were all those years of trotting and cantering ground poles and cavaletti on greenies and in lessons. It finally paid off, albeit in a western saddle!
My vet, who is no spring chicken, had the kind of crash on his mountain bike that would have killed us mere mortals. Yet he is back at work and last time I saw him, he regaled me with his grisly pictures and x rays 
I had a pair of the jeans with pre-installed “chaps.” Bought them at a tack shop in Santa Ynez, a million years ago, while visiting a friend.
Had to go up a size in those – the tack shop staff (think it was the owner), I guess in an effort to make me feel better about that, told me that Bo Derek was a customer and she’d had to go up a size in them, too. Apparently, we wore the same. Lol lol.
Wore those until they were worn out, and was kinda sorry that I hadn’t bought two pair.
I think I would masking tape my jeans so they’d not move around. I didn’t dare put masking tape on my chaps once I was finally allowed to get customs.
I have a saddle from the 90s with some significant seat damage from all those rides in jeans. And the pouring rain. Et cetera. I think only the pre-calfskin ones could truly take that beating.
I am weeping with envy. WEEPING.
Gonna be trawling Ebay, etsy, and the internet in general.
I had duck boots, too. One pair hightop, one low. Often worn with the aforementioned jeans, no chaps. Which led to some gross moments which led to the aforementioned scars.
Ah, good times.
Not to sidetrack, but UVEX makes a suxxeed lady helmet, wider brim, that is not quite velvet but a more traditional velour mat material. I wonder if that would work? The navy version has a tan harness (and the lettering above the brim comes off very easily if you don’t want branding on it).
Made in Germany, and dial fit which make these helmets the most comfortable on the market.
No idea how many pairs of those I went through. I think maybe mine were Mountain Horse? Always chestnut with green trim for me.
You know what I think is incredible about this thread?
We were all doing the same thing in different barns in different parts of the country/world.
How did these trends get so widespread before social media? I can’t even remember. I know I read a lot more books, magazines (like COTH and other horse magazines), equestrian newspapers, etc. But it’s not like COTH was featuring photos of teens riding in their masking taped jeans and chaps with their chucks on. 
I mean, I know I saw people who boarded at our barn doing it, and emulated things I saw at other barns and shows… but even still, most of these people stayed within our own region.
When I went to college, I made a west coast friend who always rode with breeches under her full chaps. I never saw anyone do that before I met her, but she said everyone did it on the west coast. I don’t know if that’s true. 
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